The Walker Scottish Rite Clinic

Long time, no blogging, and I'm sorry. :) But, I'm back and will be updating here more frequently...I promise.

Last night was one of the best nights of my life. Back in October, I was asked by Julianne's speech therapist to give a parent testimonial at the clinic's annual Gala, their big fundraising event. Of course, how could I say no? I owe them, the Walker Scottish Rite Clinic, more than I could ever repay. They are such a wonderful organization. They offer free speech and language therapy to families at no charge. A blessing. Especially in this day when speech therapy usually is not a covered benefit in most insurance plans. They have helped over 13,000 families over the past 20 years, and 1000 families just this year alone.

So, I have been working on my "speech" for the past couple of months. I tried hard not to think too much about acutally "giving" the speech, because I didn't want to start freaking out. But, slowly, I've been working on what it was I wanted to say, and I had been helping Julianne to say, "Thank you for helping Children like me....".

Last night finally arrived. I actually had on new clothes, and shoes with heels. :) I haven't worn shoes with heels since I've been married, since you know, I'm already way taller than Jeff...but for this night, I went ahead, and didn't even feel self conscious about it. Even though my wonderful friend *adult acne* decided to visit me, I still felt like I looked decent. I even colored my hair to hide the gray.

When we walked in, it was like we were royalty. Everybody knew that we were Julianne's parents, and Julianne was the designated star of the evening. It was awesome. Julianne's picture was everywhere. They even had her picture on the first page of the "program" with a little blurb about her. She looked fabulous in her pretty purple dress and her fancy curls. She felt like a princess.

I gave my speech without any fear. Julianne said her line at the end. Jeff even said I did a great job...I think I surprised him....:) He didn't think I could handle the job. But I did, and I must say...I did good.

Here are a few pictures from the evening. Remember, you can click on them to make them bigger.

Here is Julianne and me:


Julinne and Dad:


Here are a couple of my favorite decorations:

The dinner table. There was almost a "hissy fit" until we assured her she did not have to eat the salad.

The "stage":


There we are....


Here is Julianne with Mr. Walker himself, and a big wig who just presented a check for $20,000.


And what it looks like after all that partying. :)